60 Albums 1986

1986 was the last year I spent any time working in bars as a DJ. The end of an era for me and time to spend more quality time with my little girl. I was growing tired and bored with the bar scene especially when you had to be there regardless of what was going on. It was a job. The year was not particularly a good one for music in my opinion and putting together 60 favorite albums was a little more harder for this year. Of course part of the reason was I was not buying lots of records for both family reasons and there wasn't a whole lot out there I was interested in at the time. But with that being said there is lots of great music on this list.

XTC has always been one of my favorite bands and this is probably my favorite album of theirs. These are also some of the last albums I bought on vinyl on a regular basis. Yes, I bought a CD player in 1986 and the first album I purchased was the Beatle's Rubber Soul. I'll need to think about what my first new album was on CD.

The BoDeans album here is one of the few times I bought an album for it's cover without knowing what it might sound like. It turns out this is a great album and they are a wonderful unique sounding band. At this time I was very interested in everything that T Bone Burnette was producing and I saw him listed in the credits so I took a chance. Of course it wasn't a big financial chance because this album, like so many on these list, were in the used record bin at Play It Again Sam's on Elmwood which maybe around that time became Home of the Hits. It's amazing how many albums I still have with those little colored dots in the corner.

1. XTC - Skylarking
2. Steve Earle - Guitar Town
3. BoDeans - Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams
4. R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant
5. Crowded House - Crowded House
6. World Party - Private Revolution
7. The Smithereens - Especially For You
8. Iggy Pop - Blah Blah Blah
9. Elvis Costello - King of America
10. Stan Ridgway - The Big Heat
11. T Bone Burnett - T Bone Burnett
12. Guadalcanal Diary - Jamboree
13. Paul Kelly - Gossip
14. New Order - Brotherhood
15. The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
16. Dwight Yoakam - Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.
17. Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians - Element of Light
18. The Go-Betweens - Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express
19. Billy Bragg - Talking With the Taxman About Poetry
20. Bruce Springsteen - Live/1975-85
21. Husker Du - Candy Apple Grey
22. The The - Infected
23. Pretenders - Get Close
24. Lone Justice - Shelter
25. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Kicking Against the Pricks
26. Bad Brains - I Against I
27. Elvis Costello - Blood and Chocolate
28. Talking Heads - True Stories
29. Paul Simon - Graceland
30. Peter Gabriel - So
31. Solomon Burke - A Change Is Gonna Come
32. The Rainmakers - The Rainmakers
33. Sonic Youth - EVOL
34. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Tinderbox
35. Nanci Griffth - The Last of the True Believers
36. This Mortal Coil - Filigree & Shadow
37. Ennio Morricone - The Mission
38. True West - Hand of Fate
39. Let's Active - Big Plans for Everybody
40. The Flaming Lips - Hear It Is
41. The Del Lords - Johnny Comes Marching Home
42. Rubber Rodeo - Heartbreak Highway
43. Lyle Lovett - Lyle Lovett
44. Roky Erickson - Don't Slander Me
45. The Mekons - The Edge of the World
46. Bob Dylan - Knocked Out Loaded
47. Lyres - Lyres Lyres
48. Bruck Cockburn - World of Wonders
49. David & David - Boomtown
50. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Your Funeral... My Trial
51. That Petrol Emotion - Manic Pop Thrill
52. Van Morrison - No Guru, No Method, No Teacher
53. Love Tractor - This Ain't No Outerspace Ship
54. The Feelies - Good Earth
55. Yo La Tengo - Ride the Tiger
56. Arthur Russell - World of Echo
57. The Beat Farmers - Van Go
58. Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill
59. John Fogerty - Eye of the Zombie
60. The Fabulous Thunderbirds - Tuff Enuff
61. John Lennon - Live In New York City
62. Lou Reed - Mistrial
63. Prince - Parade
64. The Triffids - Born Sandy Devotional
65. The Triffids - In The Pines
66. The Cure - Standing On The Beach
67. Eurythmics - Revenge
68. 54-40 - 54-40
69. Kate Bush - The Whole Story
70. Talk Talk - The Colour Of Spring
71. The Housemartins - London 0 Hull 4
72. Chris Isaak - Chris Isaak

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60 Albums 1990

Still not 60 yet but here is another list of 60 favorite albums from my collection released in 1990.

For me this was not a particular good year in music but of course I was also distracted with young kids. Sean was just a just a year old. I was still recovering from brain surgery and going to grad school. I wasn't going out to listen to a lot of music and buying tons of CDs. We didn't have the internet quite yet although I was going online for the first time back then and discovering some music forums. Many of the albums on this list I acquired later.

The top of my list was something that hit me right away. The La's album is one of my favorite all time albums and the song There She Goes is a stone classic. I recently got the deluxe version of this album with three differently produced versions of each song and of course I had to have the La's BBC sessions album too. An awful lot of product for a band with one album even if the leader was an obsessive perfectionist.

1. The La's - The La's
2. The House of Love - The House of Love
3. Los Lobos - The Neighborhood
4. John Hiatt - Stolen Moments
5. Blue Rodeo - Casino
6. Luka Bloom - Riverside
7. World Party - Goodbye Jumbo
8. Mazzy Star - She Hangs Brightly
9. Sun Dial - Other Way Out
10. The Cure - Mixed Up
11. Sinead O'Connor - I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
12. Uncle Tupelo - No Depression
13. Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas
14. Gang of Four - A Brief History of the Twentieth Century
15. Squeeze - A Round and a Bout
16. Ride - Nowhere
17. Galaxie 500 - This Is Our Music
18. Neil Young - Ragged Glory
19. Pixies - Bossanova
20. Lou Reed & John Cale - Songs for Drella
21. Sonic Youth - Goo
22. Robyn Hitchcock - Eye
23. Yo La Tengo - Fakebook
24. Iggy Pop - Brick By Brick
25. Midnight Oil - Blue Sky Mining
26. The Black Crowes - Shake Your Money Maker
27. Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks Soundtrack
28. Traveling Wilburys - Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 3
29. Roseanne Cash - Interiors
30. The Flaming Lips - In a Priest-Driven Ambulance
31. Marianne Faithful - Blazing Away
32. Peter Murphy - Deep
33. The Rembrandts - The Rembrandts
34. Happy Mondays - Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches
35. Deee-Lite - World Clique
36. The Waterboys - Room to Roam
37. The Goo Goo Dolls - Hold Me Up
38. The Posies - Dear 23
39. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Good Son
40. Steve Earle - The Hard Way
41. John Wesley Harding - Here Comes the Groom
42. Hindu Love Gods - Hindu Love Gods
43. The Replacements - All Shook Down
44. The Breeders - Pod
45. Jellyfish - Bellybutton
46. Dread Zeppelin - Un-Led-Ed
47. Jane's Addiction - Ritual de lo Habitual
48. Bob Dylan - Under the Red Sky
49. Spacemen 3 - Dreamweapon
50. Cowboy Junkies - The Caution Horses
51. The Chills - Submarine Bells
52. The Charlatans - Some Friendly
53. Paul Simon - The Rhythm of the Saints
54. The Seers - Psych Out
55. The Northern Pikes - Snow in June
56. Ultra Vivid Scene - Joy 1967-1990
57. Tom Russell - Poor Man's Drean
58. Prefab Sprout - Jordan: The Comeback
59. Enigma - MCMXC A.D.
60. Indigo Girls - Nomads Indians Saints

The GOP Clown Car

OK, here they are. I just have to say something about these clowns. This is it. This is the best they can do?

Watching these guys has been really scary and clearly illustrates the dumbing down of conservative America. I am especially amazed at the way these people attack science and their utter lack of knowledge about the world including economics, geography, history and diplomacy.

It's been pretty funny watching the conservatives scramble around looking for someone to latch on to that isn't a Mormon. It looks like they have a flavor of the month or is it week. Bachmann is on her way out and Perry doesn't look to good now either. Cain is riding high now but for how long with the sexual harassment accusations. There's Santorum and Newt waiting in the wings for their turns at the top of the Tea Party's anyone but Mitt campaign.

60 Albums 1970

Here they are. My favorite albums from my collection released in 1970. I spent most of the year on one Navy base or another and there was always plenty of time (except for those months in boot camp) to listen to music and get albums. It was also a time when I was first getting cassette tapes which were newly available and becoming widespread. Some of the guys were buying reel to reel tape players and there were actually some albums available in that format.

I kept waiting to be shipped out to sea but that wasn't to happen until early '71. I also saw a lot of shows that year and many of them at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago when I was stationed nearby at Great Lakes Naval Training Center.

One of the great experiences of the year was my exposure to a variety of different kinds of music and in particular country and western. Back then they all called in that. The closest I ever got to country music was the Byrds but I was sent to basic training in San Diego, California and I was only one of a couple of people from the East and definitely the only person from an Eastern city. Now I grew up in Philadelphia on Doo-Wop, Soul and Rock 'n Roll. I was shocked when the company commander pulled out a tiny radio for the entire barracks and we got to vote on the one channel that would be played in the evening during the hour we had to ourselves. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the country music station. I would have been happy with either a rock/pop or soul station but... not a chance. I was surrounded by Southern and Western boys. It was a real eye opener and most of that country music in 1970 sucked. I did get to like George Jones though.

Anyway... Neil Young was one of my favorites from that year and saw him in concert a couple of times. Once with Crosby, Stills and Nash in Chicago and once by himself. I think the George Harrison album was my first pre-recorded cassette album. It was a double one too.

A lot of these albums I heard at friends houses or down the shore while visiting on leave. I went on to get them for myself over the following few years.

1. Neil Young - After the Gold Rush
2. George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
3. Derek and The Dominos - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
4. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
5. Traffic - John Barleycorn Must Die
6. Van Morrison - Moondance
7. Santana - Abraxas
8. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Deja Vu
9. Cat Stevens - Tea For The Tillerman
10. The Who - Live at Leeds
11. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III
12. Joe Cocker - Mad Dogs & Englishmen
13. Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
14. Eric Clapton - Eric Clapton
15. The Velvet Underground - Loaded
16. Grateful Dead - American Beauty
17. The Beatles - Let It Be
18. Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsys
19. John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band
20. David Bowie - The Man Who Sold the World
21. The Moody Blues - A Question of Balance
22. Jethro Tull - Benefit
23. The Kinks - Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround (Part One)
24. Grateful Dead - Workingman's Dead
25. Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection
26. Stephen Stills - Stephen Stills
27. Dave Mason - Alone Together
28. The Temptations - Psychedelic Shack
29. Paul McCartney - McCartney
30. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory
31. Hot Tuna - Hot Tuna
32. Joni Mitchell - Ladies of the Canyon
33. Curtis Mayfield - Curtis
34. John McLaughlin - Devotion
35. Funkadelic - Funkadelic
36. John Cale - Vintage Violence
37. Isaac Hayes - The Isaac Hayes Movement
38. The Band - Stage Fright
39. Jesse Winchester - Jesse Winchester
40. Buddy Miles - Them Changes
41. Eric Burdon and War - Eric Burdon Declares War
42. Seatrain - Seatrain
43. Little Feat - Little Feat
44. Savoy Brown - Raw Sienna
45. The Guess Who - American Woman
46. The Doors - Morrison Hotel
47. The Byrds - (Untitled)
48. Syd Barrett - The Madcap Laughs
49. The Pretty Things - Parachute
50. The Stooges - Fun House
51. Spirit - Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus
52. Pearls Before Swine - The Use of Ashes
53. James Taylor - Sweet Baby James
54. Nick Drake - Bryter Layter
55. Badfinger - Magic Christian Music
56. Chicago - Chicago III
57. Rod Stewart - Gasoline Alley
58. Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice - Jesus Christ Superstar
59. Tim Buckley - Starsailor
60. Captain Beefheart - Lick My Decals Off, Baby
61. Sly & The Family Stone - Greatest Hits
62. Exuma - Exuma II
63. Soft Machine - Third
64. Nico - Desertshore
65. The Allman Brothers Band - Idlewild South
66. Aretha Franklin - Spirit in the Dark
67. The Beach Boys - Sunflower
68. Syd Barrett - Barrett
69. Funkadelic - Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow
70. Groundhogs - Thank Christ for the Bomb
71. Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother
72. King Crimson - In the Wake of Poseidon
73. Tyrannosaurus Rex - A Beard of Stars
74. Elton John - Elton John
75. Heron - Heron
76. Van Morrison - His Band and the Street Choir
77. Badfinger - No Dice
78. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Pendulum
79. Melanie - Candles in the Rain
80. Delaney & Bonnie - Delaney & Bonnie & Friends on Tour with Eric Clapton
81. Todd Rundgren - Runt
82. Gil Scott-Heron - Small Talk at 125th and Lenox
83. J.D. Blackfoot - The Ultimate Prophecy
84. Booker T. & The M.G.'s - McLemore Avenue
85. Mandrill - Mandrill
86. The Incredible Stringband - U
87. The Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!
88. James Brown - Sex Machine
89. Bob Dylan - New Morning
90. Alice Cooper - Easy Action
91. Kraftwerk - Kraftwerk
92. The J. Geils Band - The J. Geils Band
93. Fleetwood Mac - Kiln House
94. Shuggie Otis - Here Comes Shuggie Otis
95. The Guess Who - Share the Land
96. Poco - Poco
97. Atomic Rooster - Atomic Rooster
98. Ten Years After - Cricklewood Green
99. Mountain - Climbing
100. Bob Dylan - Self Portrait

60 Albums 2007

This was one of my favorite years in music and here is my 60 favorite albums from my collection released in 2007. I'm not sure why I went for so many albums in 2007. I think maybe it was because it has become so much easier to find out about albums from more obscure artist and to actually hearing the music before committing to getting it. I ended up listing over 200 albums on this page. Much more than most years. I also had made several mixes throughout that year using songs from the year.

I have the Besnard Lakes as my top album of the year and there probably weren't many end of the year list featuring this group at the top. I picked them because I kept going back to that album throughout the year and playing it. When you get as many albums a year as I do it is hard to make time for repeat listens but these guys were worth it. They had that great mix of Beach Boys vocals and Jesus and Mary Chain guitars. I also got to see them perform live at the Mohawk Place.

A close second was Robert Plant which was also an album I went back to again and again. It was great hearing that familiar voice in this Americana setting with Alison Krauss.

I also added another list at the end of this particularly long one... my favorite albums released in 2007 that were various artists collections, greatest hit compilations, tribute albums, box sets, and concert live albums not in my main list. Yeah, it was a good year for music.

And a list of mixes of songs from many of these albums at the end.

1. The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse
2. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
3. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
4. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights
5. The Swell Season - Once: Music From the Motion Picture
6. The National - Boxer
7. Oakley Hall - I'll Follow You
8. Various Artists - I'm Not There
9. Deerhunter - Cryptograms
10. Ryan Shaw - This Is Ryan Shaw
11. Pinback - Autumn of the Seraphs
12. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
13. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
14. Richard Thompson - Sweet Warrior
15. Field Music - Tones of Town
16. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
17. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
18. Radiohead - In Rainbows
19. Jose Gonzalez - In Our Nature
20. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
21. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
22. Grinderman - Grinderman
23. Fields - Everything Last Winter
24. Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
25. St. Vincent - Marry Me
26. Akron/Family - Love is Simple
27. Keren Ann - Keren Ann
28. Dungen - Tio Bitar
29. The Detroit Cobras - Tied & True
30. Cloud Cult - The Meaning of 8
31. Joe Henry - Civilians
32. Wooden Shjips - Wooden Shjips
33. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
34. Great Lake Swimmers - Ongiara
35. The Felice Brothers - Tonight at the Arizona
36. Maps - We Can Create
37. PJ Harvey - White Chalk
38. Battles - Mirrored
39. Lightning Dust - Lightning Dust
40. Ryan Bingham - Mescalito
41. The Pines - Sparrows in the Bell
42. Nicole Atkins - Neptune City
43. Menomena - Friend and Foe
44. Will Hoge - Draw the Curtains
45. AIR - Pocket Symphony
46. Eleni Mandell - Miracle of Five
47. Bettye Lavette - The Scene of the Crime
48. Life on Earth - Look! There's Life on Earth!
49. Blanche - Little Amber Bottles
50. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
51. Mary Gauthier - Between Daylight and Dark
52. Joseph Arthur - Let's Just Be
53. The Black Hollies - Casting Shadows
54. Patty Griffin - Children Running Through
55. Mavis Staples - We'll Never Turn Back
56. Jesse Sykes & The Sweat Hereafter - Like, Love, Lust & the Open Halls of the Soul
57. A.A. Bondy - American Hearts
58. Patti Smith - Twelve
59. Nina Nastasia & Jim White - You Follow Me
60. Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon

• Marissa Nadler - Songs III: Bird of the Water
• Stars - In Our Bedroom After the War
• The Dreadful Yawns - Rest
• Frank Black - Bluefinger
• The Pillbugs - Monclovia
• Jim White - Transnormal Skiperoo
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81
• Over The Rhine - The Trumpet Child
• Son Volt - The Search
• Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
• Robert Wyatt - Comicopera
• Luka Bloom - Tribe
• Sam Baker - Pretty World
• The New Pornographers - Challengers
• Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
• The Rosebuds - Night of the Furies
• The Acorn - Glory Hope Mountain
• The Holmes Brothers - State of Grace
• Liars - Liars
• Bowerbirds - Hymns for a Dark Horse
• Deer Tick - War Elephant
• The White Stripes - Icky Thump
• Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals
• Steve Earle - Washington Square Serenade
• Pete Case - Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John
• Lucinda Williams - West
• Vic Chesnutt - North Star Deserter
• Greg Brown - Yellow Dog
• Angels of Light - We Are Him
• Castanets - In The Vines
• The Sadies - New Seasons
• Frog Eyes - Tears of the Valedictorian
• The Aliens - Astronomy For Dogs
• Joan Osborne - Breakfast in Bed
• World Party - Best in Show
• Nurse & Soldier - Marginalia
• Ideal Free Distribution - Ideal Free Distribution
• Sea Wolf - Leaves in the River
• Hem - Home Again, Home Again
• Feist - The Reminder
• Soulsavers - It's Not How Far You Fall, It's the Way You Land
• John Mellencamp - Freedom's Road
• The Everybodyfields - Nothing is Okay
• Fela Kuti - Anthology
• Au Revoir Simone - The Bird of Music
• Southern Culture on the Skids - Countrypolitan Favorites
• The Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound - Ekranoplan
• Wildbirds and Peacedrums - Heartcore
• Sarah Borges - Diamonds in the Dark
• Dolorean - You Can't Win
• Ghost Stories - Quixoticism
• Bruce Springsteen - Magic
• Grace Potter & The Nocturnals - This is Somewhere
• Breathe Owl Breathe - Canadian Shield
• Caribou - Andorra
• Joe Ely - Happy Songs from Rattlesnake Gulch
• Levon Helm - Dirt Farmer
• The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust
• Tunng - Good Arrows
• Bodies of Water - Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink
• The Roches - Moonswept
• Anitbalas - Security
• Julian Cope - You Gotta Problem With Me
• Dean & Britta - Back Numbers
• Architecture in Helsinski - Places Like This
• White Rabbits - Fort Nightly
• Pop Levi - The Return to Form Black Magick Party
• Richard Swift - Dressed Up for the Letdown
• Future Clouds & Radar - Future Clouds & Radar
• Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight
• The Clientele - God Save the Clientele
• LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
• The Lovetones - Axiom
• Damien Dempsey - To Hell or Barbados
• Richard Hawley - Lady's Bridge
• Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer
• Marnie Stern - In Advance of the Broken Arm
• The Heavy - Great Vengeance and Furious Fire
• The Coral - Roots & Echoes
• David Vandervelde - The Moonstation House Band
• Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Underground
• Ozomatli - Don't Mess With the Dragon
• Interpol - Our Love to Admire
• Sigur Ros - Hvarf / Heim
• Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum
• Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
• Laura Veirs - Saltbreakers
• Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II
• Yellow Swans - At All Ends
• Pieta Brown - Remember the Sun
• Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full
• The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism
• The Warlocks - Heavy Deavy Skull Lover
• Parts and Labor - Mapmaker
• The Broken West - I Can't Go On, I'll Go On
• Buriel - Untrue
• Okkervil River - The Stage Names
• Magnolia Electric Co. - Sojourner
• Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
• Mice Parade - Mice Parade
• Ian Hunter - Shrunken Heads
• Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
• Kevin Drew - Spirit If
• Suzanne Vega - Beauty & Crime
• The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters
• Great Lakes Myth Society - Compass Rose Bouquet
• Super Furry Animals - Hey Venus
• The Good, The Bad & The Queen - The Good, The Bad & The Queen
• The Finches - Human Like a House
• Rickie Lee Jones - The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard
• The Horrors - Strange House
• Ray Davies - Working Man's Cafe
• Joan Armatrading - Into the Blues
• Great Northern - Trading Twilight for Daylight
• Citay - Little Kingdom
• Josh Rouse - Country Mouse City House
• Phosphorescent - Pride
• Midnight Movies - Lion the Girl
• Dirty Projectors - Rise Above
• The Bird and the Bee - The Bird and the Bee
• Taken By Trees - Open Field
• The Hives - The Black and White Album
• Thurston Moore - Trees Outside the Academy
• Cary Brothers - Who Are You
• The Electric Soft Parade - No Need to Be Downhearted
• Low - Drums and Guns
• Delta Spirit - Ode to Sunshine
• The Ladybug Transistor - Can't Wait Another Day
• Film School - Hideout
• Arbouretum - Rites of Uncovering
• Stars - Do You Trust Your Friends?
• Handsome Furs - Plague Park
• Mount Eerie - Mount Eerie, Parts 6 & 7
• Spindrift - The Legend of God's Gun
• Dr. Dog - We All Belong
• Vietnam - Vietnam
• Xavier Rudd - White Moth
• Art Brut - It's a Bit Complicated
• The Ponys - Turn the Lights Out
• The Bees - Octopus
• The Earlies - The Enemy Chorus
• Grand Atlantic - This is Grand Atlantic
• Myracle Brah - Can You Hear the Myracle Brah?
• Travis - The Boy With No Name
• The Thrills - Teenager
• Sky Cries Mary - Small Town
• Ruthie Foster - The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster
• Birdie Busch - Penny Arcade
• Wintersleep - Welcome to the Night Sky
• The Greencards - Viridian
• Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
• Joan as Police Woman - Real Life
• Rising Appalachia - Scale Down
• Fink - Distance and Time
• Julie Doiron - Woke Myself Up
• Beastie Boys - The Mix-Up
• James Blackshaw - The Cloud of Unknowing
• The Redwalls - The Redwalls
• Blonde Redhead - 23
• Throw Me The Statue - Moonbeams
• !!! - Myth Takes
• The Wildbirds - Golden Daze

Here are some favorite collections, compilations and concerts albums released in 2007 not included in the main list.

• Neil Young - Live at Massey Hall 1971
• T. Rex - The Electric Boogie: 1971
• Miles Davis - The Complete On The Corner Sessions
• Bruce Springsteen - Live in Dublin
• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Abattoir Blues Tour
• Marc Bolan - Bolan at the Beeb
• Fela Kuti - Anthology
• Captain Beefheart - Live at the Bickershaw 1972
• Emmylou Harris - Songbird: Rare Tracks and Forgotten Gems
• R.E.M. - Live
• Frank Black - 93-03
• World Party - Best in Show
• King Tubby - The Essential King Tubby
• Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Live at the BBC Volume One
• Robert Forster / Grant Mclennan - Intermission: The Best of the Solo Recordings 1990-1997
• Jefferson Airplane - Sweeping Up The Spotlight: Live at the Fillmore East 1969
• Todd Snider - Peace, Love and Anarchy: Rarities, B-Sides and Demos
• Buzzcocks - 30
• Various Artists - Endless Highway: The Music of The Band
• John Hiatt - Live at the Hiatt
• Fairport Convention - Live at the BBC
• Various Artists - Love Is In The Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970
• Over The Rhine - Discount Fireworks: A Collection
• The Doors - The Very Best of The Doors
• Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode: His Complete '50s Chess Recordings
• Michael Penn - Palms & Runes, Tarot & Tea: A Collection
• Miles Davis - Evolution of the Groove
• Ani DiFranco - Canon
• Over The Rhine - Live From Nowhere Volume 2
• Jackie Greene - The Dig Years: 2001-2005
• Ken Boothe - Everything I Own: The Definitive Collection
• Garbage - Absolute Garbage
• Louis Prima - Jump, Jive an' Wail: The Essential
• J.J. Cale - Gold
• Various Artists - Soulsville Sings Hitsville: Stax Sings Songs of Motown Records
• The Church - Deep in the Shallows: The Classic Singles Collection
• Various Artists - A Tribute to Joni Mitchell
• Paul Simon - The Essential Paul Simon
• Aretha Franklin - Rare & Unreleased Recordings From the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul
• Judee Sill - Live in London: The BBC Recordings 1972-1973

• Songs 2007 Vol. 1 - Are You Really There - List - Listen
• Songs 2007 Vol. 2 - Baby I've Got Some Words For You - List - Listen
• Songs 2007 Vol. 3 - You're Not The Only One - List - Listen
• Songs 2007 Vol. 4 - In The Dark - List - Listen
• Songs 2007 Vol. 5 - Start To Dreaming - List - Listen
• Songs 2007 Vol. 6 - Tomorrow It's Only Yesterday - List - Listen

60 Albums 1997

Here is another list of 60 favorite albums from my collection and this time the year of release is 1997. The year was another interesting mix of the various types of music that I'm drawn to and I have picked Radiohead as my favorite followed by Bob Dylan. I'm not sure I would have picked Radiohead as the top album if I was making the list back in late 1997. I really liked the album but I think it has really stood the test of time and is something that I come back to over and over. I always enjoy listening to it. It's also interesting that it is probably the commercial high point of Radiohead and they followed it up with a series of exciting but noncommercial albums since then. They continue to be one of my all time favorite bands.

It was wonderful to see Bob Dylan making great albums again and Time Out of Mind is one of my favorites . I recently looked at my collection to see which band or artist I had the most albums in my collection and it was Bob Dylan by far with over 30 albums. I think almost everything he's released is worth having.

The other album here I'll comment on is that 60's soul box set. I usually don't put box sets in my list of 60 but this was such a great collection. It was an essential addition even though I already had a lot of the songs. Six CDs of soulful bliss from the 60s.

Lots of old favorites reappear again along with some new additions to my collection of artist.

1. Radiohead - OK Computer
2. Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind
3. Various Artists - Beg, Scream & Shout: The Big Ol' Box of 60's Soul
4. The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Give It Back
5. Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One
6. Steve Earle - El Corazon
7. Elliot Smith - Either/Or
8. Greg Brown - Slant 6 Mind
9. Chris Whitley - Living With The Law
10. Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club
11. Pixes - Death to the Pixies
12. Built To Spill - Perfect From Now On
13. Whiskeytown - Stranger's Almanac
14. Calexico - Spoke
15. Oasis - Be Here Now
16. Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Arkology
17. Sarah McLachlan - Surfacing
18. Blur - Blur
19. Son Volt - Straightaways
20. Pavement - Brighten the Corners
21. Bob Marley - Dreams of Freedom: Ambient Translations in Dub
22. The Verve - Urban Hymns
23. The Walkabouts - Nighttown
24. Morphine - Like Swimming
25. David Bowie - Earthling
26. Jim White - The Mysterious Tale of How I Shouted Wrong-Eyed Jesus!
27. Guided By Voices - Mag Earwhig!
28. Tindersticks - Curtains
29. John Hiatt - Little Head
30. Galaxie 500 - Copenhagen
31. Teenage Fanclub - Songs From Northern Britain
32. Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
33. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Boatman's Call
34. Love Spit Love - Trysome Eatone
35. The Charlatans - Tellin' Stories
36. Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West
37. Richard Buckner - Devotion & Doubt
38. Paul McCartney - Flaming Pie
39. Portishead - Portishead
40. Tarnation - Mirador
41. The Jayhawks - Sound of Lies
42. Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Barafundle
43. Ani DiFranco - Living in Clip
44. Old 97's - Too Far To Care
45. Ray Wylie Hubbard - Dangerous Spirits
46. 16 Horsepower - Low Estate
47. Superchunk - Indoor Living
48. Dar Williams - End of Summer
49. Neko Case & Her Boyfriends - The Virginian
50. Super Furry Animals - Radiator
51. John Fogerty - Blue Moon Swamp
52. Robert Wyatt - Shleep
53. Bjork - Homogenic
54. Mogwai - Young Team
55. Primal Scream - Vanishing Point
56. Holly Golightly - Painted On
57. The Apples in Stereo - Tone Soul Evolution
58. The Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole
59. Freedy Johnston - Never Home
60. Daft Punk - Homework

Occupation Thoughts

Some thoughts on the Occupy Wall Street movement and related protests. I agree with the need to protest Wall Street 100% but it certainly doesn't stop there. It's a good place to make a stand but the movement needs to focus on many other objectives.

The corporate media has attacked the movement as aimless and continually ask for the objectives. The concept of the 1% waging class war on the 99% is valid and obvious.

I have some ideas on objective for the movement.

Campaign Finance Reform is number one. Take the money out of elections. I also think that lobbyist should be banned from Capitol Hill or at least be severely restricted. Former members of Congress should be banned from lobbying for at least 10 years.

The debt crises is bullshit. Forcing the 1% to pay their fair share of taxes would solve the problem immediately. Another good idea is to tax Wall Street financial transactions. That would also solve the debt crises.

60 Albums 1980

Mixing it up a little... I'm jumping from the 60s to 1980. This was also another year where I couldn't stop at 60 at ended up with a list of my 100 favorites for the year.

1. Talking Heads - Remain in Light
2. Elvis Costello - Get Happy!!
3. The English Beat - I Just Can't Stop It
4. The Clash - Sandinista!
5. David Bowie - Scary Monsters (And Super Creeeps)
6. U2 - Boy
7. Pretenders - Pretenders
8. Split Enz - True Colours
9. Prince - Dirty Mind
10. Squeeze Argybargy
11. Rockpile - Seconds of Pleasure
12. Dirty Looks - Dirty Looks
13. Echo & The Bunnymen - Crocodiles
14. Magazine - The Correct Use of Soap
15. The Selecter - Too Much Pressure
16. XTC - Black Sea
17. Bruce Springsteen - The River
18. Joy Division - Closer
19. Captain Beefheart - Doc at the Radar Station
20. The Teardrop Explodes - Kilimanjaro
21. The Cure - Seventeen Seconds
22. Hall & Oates - Voices
23. The Only Ones - Baby's Got a Gun
24. Stevie Wonder - Hotter Than July
25. X - Los Angeles
26. Tom Waits - Heartattack and Vine
27. The Jam - Sound Affects
28. Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel
29. Elvis Costello - Taking Liberties
30. Fischer-Z - Going Deaf For a Living
31. Martha & The Muffins - Metro Music
32. 999 - The Biggest Prize in Sport
33. Joan Armatrading - Me, Myself and I
34. Roxy Music - Flesh + Blood
35. Defunkt - Defunkt
36. John Hiatt - Two Bit Monsters
37. Black Uhuru - Sinsemilla
38. Dexys Midnight Runners - Searching for the Young Soul Rebels
39. The Soft Boys - Underwater Moonlight
40. Grace Jones - Warm Leatherette
41. T Bone Burnett - Truth Decay
42. Devo - Freedom of Choice
43. Killing Joke - Killing Joke
44. The Psychedelic Furs - The Psychedelic Furs
45. The B-52's - Wild Planet
46. The Undertones - Hypnotised
47. Ramones - End of the Century
48. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Uprising
49. The Kinks - One For The Road
50. Joe Jackson - Beat Crazy
51. Kate Bush - Never For Ever
52. The Vapors - New Clear Days
53. The Specials - More Specials
54. The Cramps - Songs the Lord Taught Us
55. Joan Jett - Joan Jett
56. Bootsy Collins - Ultra Wave
57. The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms
58. The Roches - Nurds
59. Teenage Head - Frantic City
60. Linton Kwesi Johnson - Bass Culture
61. The Durutti Column - The Return of the Durutti Column
62. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Kaleidoscope
63. Ultravox - Vienna
64. Blondie - Autoamerican
65. Billy Burnette - Billy Burnette
66. The Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue
67. The Inmates - Shot in the Dark
68. UB40 - Signing Off
69. Robert Gordon - Bad Boy
70. The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta
71. Steely Dan - Gaucho
72. Link Wray - Live at the Paradiso
73. AC/DC - Back in Black
74. Pylon - Gyrate
75. Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
76. Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
77. Linton Kwesi Johnson - LKJ in Dub
78. Roky Erickson & The Aliens - Roky Erickson & The Aliens (5 Symbols)
79. Emmylou Harris - Roses in the Snow
80. Mink DeVille - Le Chat Bleu
81. Van Morrison - Common One
82. The Human League - Travelogue
83. The Birthday Party - The Birthday Party
84. Bruce Cockburn - Humans
85. Willie Nile - Willie Nile
86. Visage - Visage
87. Jim Carroll - Catholic Boy
88. John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Double Fantasy
89. Wreckless Eric - Big Smash
90. Swell Maps - In Jane From Occupied Europe
91. Warren Zevon - Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School
92. Steve Winwood - Arc of a Diver
93. Daryl Hall - Sacred Songs
94. Paul McCartney - Paul McCartney II
95. Roseanne Cash - Right or Wrong
96. Buggles - The Age of Plastic
97. Orchestral Nanoeuvres in the Dark - Organization
98. Adam & The Ants - Kings of the Wild Frontier
99. Various Artists - No Nukes
100. BB Gabor - BB Gabor

60@60 1969 Albums

1969 was my high school graduation year and it's also the year I joined the Navy. For the past year or so I was going many shows and concerts in addition to buying lots of albums. So here are my favorite albums from my collection that were released in 1969. I saw quite a few of these bands in concert in that year.

So I have The Beatles' Abbey Road as my top pick for the year. As with all of these 60@60 lists there is some relative subjectivity in the rankings. The top group is almost a shared rank but only one can be number one and so I've tried to be a little more selective and thoughtful with that pick. It's hard to imagine the incredible buzz that led up to the release of Abbey Road especially with all the talk of the group's inevitable breakup. We were also experiencing all the craziness of the Paul is dead phenomenon. I remember walking up to Chelten Avenue on the Saturday morning of the release of the album to get my copy.

1969 was a good year for music and I had to keep on adding albums from my collection to this list. I just couldn't stop at 60 and so this list goes to 100. My favorite 100 albums from 1969 and yes I have every one of them. Lots of vinyl too.

1. The Beatles - Abbey Road
2. Neil Young - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
3. The Band - The Band
4. The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed
5. Sly & The Family Stone - Stand!
6. Led Zeppelin - Led Zepplin II
7. Crosby, Stills & Nash- Crosby, Stills & Nash
8. Santana - Santana
9. Chicago - Chicago Transit Authority
10. Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul
11. Jefferson Airplane - Volunteers
12. Joe Cocker - With a Little Help From My Friends
13. Janis Joplin - I Got Dem Ol' Kosmic Blues Again Mama!
14. The Temptations - Cloud Nine
15. Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
16. Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
17. The Kinks - Arthur or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire
18. Blind Faith - Blind Faith
19. Donovan - Barabajagal
20. Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline
21. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River
22. The Byrds - Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde
23. Dusty Springfield - Dusty in Memphis
24. John Mayall - The Turning Point
25. Tommy James & The Shondells - Crimson & Clover
26. The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Gilded Palace of Sin
27. Johnny Winter - Johnny Winter
28. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bayou Country
29. The Stooges - The Stooges
30. The MC5 - Kick Out The Jams
31. The Byrds - Ballad of Easy Rider
32. Boz Scaggs - Boz Scaggs
    
33. Rashaan Roland Kirk - Volunteered Slavery
34. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground
35. Joni Mitchell - Clouds
36. Blood, Sweat & Tears - Blood, Sweat & Tears
37. The Who - Tommy
38. Pink Floyd - Ummagumma
39. Jethro Tull - Stand Up
40. Tim Buckley - Happy Sad
41. Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica
42. King Crimson - In The Court of The Crimson King
43. Quicksilver Messenger Service - Happy Trails
44. Ten Years After - Ssssh
45. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
46. Three Dog Night - Suitable For Framing
47. Jack Bruce - Songs For a Tailor
48. Tyrannosaurus Rex - Unicorn
49. Boz Scaggs - Boz Scaggs
50. Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left
51. Jeff Beck Group - Beck-Ola
52. The Moody Blues - On the Threshold of a Dream
53. Grateful Dead - Aoxomoxoa
54. The Incredible String Band - Changing Horses
55. Can - Monster Movie
56. Townes Van Zandt - Our Mother the Mountain
57. Fairport Convention - Unhalfbricking
58. The Moody Blues - To Our Children's Children's Children
59. The Doors - The Soft Parade
60. Rare Earth - Get Ready
61. Johnny Cash - At San Quentin
    
62. Moby Grape - Truly Fine Citizen
    
63. John McLaughlin - Extrapolation
64. Steppenwolf - Monster
65. The Beach Boys - 20/20
66. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Willy and the Poor Boys
67. Aretha Franklin - Soul '69
68. Grateful Dead - Live/Dead
69. Procol Harum - A Salty Dog
70. Tony Williams Lifetime - Emergency
    
71. Al Green - Green is Blues
72. Vanilla Fudge - Near the Beginning
73. Herbie Mann - Memphis Underground
74. Cream - Goodbye
75. The Mandrake Memorial - Puzzle
76. Townes Van Zandt - Townes Van Zandt
77. Joe Cocker - Joe Cocker!
78. Fairport Convention - Liege & Lief
79. Billy Preston - That's The Way God Planned It
80. The Allman Brothers Band - The Allman Brothers Band
81. Quicksilver Messenger Service - Shady Grove
    
82. Amon Duul II - Phallus Dei
83. Johnny Winter - Second Winter
84. Savoy Brown - Blue Matter
85. Tony Joe White - Black and White
    
86. Roberta Flack - First Take
87. Steppenwolf - At Your Birthday Party
    
88. It's A Beautiful Day - It's A Beautiful Day
89. The Chambers Brothers - Love, Peace and Happiness
    
90. Poco - Pickin' Up The Pieces
91. Mike Bloomfield & Al Kooper - The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper
92. Steve Miller Band - Brave New World
93. Fleetwood Mac - Blues Jam in Chicago: Volume One
    
94. The Illusion - The Illusion
    
95. The 5th Dimension - The Age of Aquarius
96. Spooky Tooth - Spooky Two
    
97. The Bubble Puppy - A Gathering of Promises
    
98. Vanilla Fudge - Rock and Roll
    
99. Iron Butterfly - Ball
100. Wild Man Fischer - An Evening With Wild Man Fischer